and cells called melanocytes, which give skin its color. The inner layer of skin is called the dermis. This layer is thicker, and contains blood vessels, nerves, and sweat glands. The hair on skin also grows from tiny pockets in the dermis, called follicles. The dermis makes sweat, which helps cool the body, and oils that keep the skin from drying out. Skin cancer is viewed as an undeclared epidemic by dermatologists. "Skin cancer is now about as common as all other cancers combined," says Martin A. Weinstock, M.D., Ph.D., director of Brown University’s Dermatoepidemiology Unit and Chief of Dermatology at the Providence Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center. He also says there’s no evidence the epidemic has peaked, which means it could get worse. Skin cancer is quite curable when treated early. More than ninety percent of skin cancers are completely cured. It’s also largely preventable, simply by avoiding sun and sunlamp exposure. Sunscreen is the most common defense against skin cancer. However, only two in five people consistently use sunscreen whenever they’re in the sun. Few people say they sunbathe, but about one in five adults still does. There are three main types of skin cancer. Melanoma is the least common but most serious because this killer is responsible for three-quarters of the nearly 10,000 skin cancer deaths per year. The other two types, basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, are often referred to together as non-melanoma skin cancer. Basal cell cancer is by far the most common skin cancer, followed by squamous cell carcinoma, which can also become a killer. Between 1980 and 1989, the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers increased sixty-five percent and melanoma twenty-one percent. Skin cancer is also striking at younger ages than before. One-quarter of the more than 30,000 people expected to develop melanoma this year will be thirty-nine or younger. Ot...
